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ERIC NYLUND
21
"Roger that," Will said with a disappointed sigh.
"Red-Three?" Fred asked. "Report."
There was a moment's hesitation. Joshua whispered: "Not good
here, Red-One. I'm posted on the ridge between our valley and the
next. The Covenant has a massive LZ set up. There's an enemy
ship on station and I estimate battalion-strength enemy troops on
the ground. Grunts, Jackals, equipment, and support armor are
deploying. Looks like they're getting ready for round two, sir."
Fred felt the pit of his stomach grow cold. "Give me an uplink."
"Roger."
A tiny picture appeared in Fred's heads-up display, and he saw
what Joshua had sighted through his sniperscope: A Covenant
cruiser hovered thirty meters off the ground. The ship bristled
with energy weapons and plasma artillery. His Spartans couldn't
get within weapons range of that thing without being roasted.
A gravity lift connected the ship to the surface of Reach, and
troops poured out—thousands of them: legions of Grunts, three
full squadrons of Elites piloting Banshees, plus at least a dozen
Wraith tanks.
It didn't make much sense, though. Why didn't the cruiser get
closer and open fire? Or did the Covenant think there might be
another air strike? The Covenant never hesitated during an as-
sault ... but the fact that he was still alive meant that the enemy's
rules of engagement had somehow changed.
Fred wasn't sure why the Covenant were being so cautious,
but he'd take the break. It would give him time to figure out how to
stop them. If the Spartans were mobile, they might be able to
engage a force that size with hit-and-run tactics. Holding a fixed
position was another story altogether.
"Updates every ten minutes," he told Joshua. His voice was
suddenly tight and dry.
"Roger that."
"Red-Two? Any progress on that SATCOM uplink?"
"Negative, sir," Kelly muttered, tension thickening her voice.
She had been tasked with patching Charlie Company's
bullet-ridden communications pack. "There are battle reports
jamming the entire spectrum, but from what I can make out the
fight upstairs isn't going well. They need this generator up—no
matter what it's going to cost us."